Day 8

The day dawned sunny and cool, a nice day for a walk.  My goal for the day, Newton, was nine miles away but I planned a small detour to Lanercost Priory a little over a mile south of the wall about half way between Gilsland and Newton.  The trail remained fairly flat, with mild climbs in and out of ravines, and for the most part traversed pasture land.  I still saw multiple remnants of the wall— fragments of the wall itself, old milepost castles and in one case the remains of ruins of a bridge fort, which in its day, had been adjacent to a bridge over the river Irthing.  The river had moved its bed since and was not quite a distance away from where the ruins stood. Mother Nature is not static!

Remains of an old bridge fort. Not only are the fort and bridge missing- so is the river! It moved over the centuries….

After about three hours on the trail, I reached the turn off for the priory and walked down a narrow, unpaved lane to the small village that hosted the priory.  I arrived while church service was still being conducted (it was a Sunday); worship has occurred at the priory consistently since its establishment in the 1200’s! Since I was a bit hungry and it was near mid-day, I wandered over the adjacent café, still on priory grounds, and sat down to eat my lunch while waiting for the service to complete.

Lanecross priory as seen from the back of where the cloisters would have been. The open air part is to the left.

Picture of the area of the priory that exposed to the elements. Still very majestic!

Back at the priority, I wandered through the grounds, exploring the undercroft where the monks most likely ate and the old tower that had been built when the priory complex was converted to a manor house.  The priory was constructed from stones “borrowed” from Hadrian’s wall and was a large monastic complex. The cloisters had long been dismantled but the foundations had been dug up and it was easy to see where they would have been. Further alterations were made to part of the complex when it was turned into a manor house.  The western end of the church was left exposed to the elements although the eastern end is still used today for services.  Some of the other outbuildings were turned into apartments.  Edward I stayed at the priory and Robert the Bruce sacked it— another location with lots of history! I spent about an hour wandering around before heading back up the road to rejoin the Hadrian’s Wall path.

I continued on to Newton, about another hour or so, where I met a taxis to take me to my evening’s accommodation at the Oakwood Manor near Brampton.  I did not know what to expect, but the manor was exactly that— a Victorian era country manor.  I really enjoyed wandering through the house (there was a library!) and trying to imagine life at that time. (It also served, as a stint, as a hospital during WWI.)

From Manor house to hospital to B&B. Way cool!

Day 9

The taxi picked me up at my B&B at 9:15am and dropped me off in Newton where I had been picked up the previous evening and from there I set out for Carlisle, my destination for the day.  The sky was blue and the temperature a comfortable 60 degrees; it was another great morning for a walk.  I was definitely out of the highlands of central north England as the path remained comfortably flat.  The trail alternated between fields and short stretches of narrow country roads.  The random encounters with the stone skeleton of Hadrian’s wall were now in my past. The original wall in this part of the country was made of turf, then wood, before finally being reconstructed from stone.  However over the centuries much of the stone was removed and used for later building projects in the surrounding area.

The sharp hills here are not random, but are the remnants of the original turf wall, built before one was constructed of wood (and later stone). The defensive ditches also exist in many places along the wall.

Even though none of the stone wall remains, the path wended by some of the original turf wall, still discernible in the fields I walked through- giant undulating mounds of green earth paralleling a deep ditch.  As I walked further west signs of civilization started to intrude, the path passing under power lines, crossing over major motorways and through larger and larger villages and eventually, as in Newcastle, becoming a paved bicycle and walking path.

Because of the relative flatness of the path I made good time and found myself in Carlisle shortly after lunch allowing me the opportunity to wander around the city while I waited for my luggage to catch up to me. I eventually found a pub and settled in to watch the Spain-Egypt World Cup game.

Day 10

I planned an extra day in Carlisle to explore the town before finishing the final 14 miles of the wall path.  Carlisle is the largest city in the northwest of England and an important site since Roman times due to its proximity to the ocean.  Remains of a major Roman fort, thought to be the staging point for those destined to serve along the wall were found, including a villa thought to be where Emperor Servious’s family stayed.  In the late 1100’s the Norman’s built a castle in Carlisle to cement their rule as well as have a garrison positioned to keep an eye on Scotland.  The castle still exists, is in excellent shape, and I spent about three hours wandering around.

The architectural style of Carlisle castle was similar to the castle in Newcastle, but unlike in Newcastle, most of the walls and outbuildings at Carlisle were intact.  Carlisle castle was built with defense in mind throughout its whole history.  The Norman’s expected to have problems with the neighboring Scots and so did future monarchs.  The castle received additional fortifications from Henry VIII.  All together the edifice withstood and survived seven sieges over the years. The amount of English history that revolved around the castle the site was was staggering and I was really glad I was able to catch a guided tour to hear some of the details.  More recently, the site was used to host defense forces during the two world wars and continues to host a reserve unit today; the castle never stopped performing its war-like function!

Carlisle Cathedral, same style as the Lanecross Priory but still fully intact (and also still used for worship)

The cathedral is famous for its stained glass window, the upper part of which dates back to medieval times.

Shortly after the castle was built, construction started on the Carlisle cathedral, which has hosted church services ever since it was built in the early 1200’s.  Like the Lanercross Priory, the Carlisle church was established as an Augustinian priory and the two buildings share some architectural styles.  The church compound has grown over the years with outbuildings and larger space for worshippers added although part of the nave was dismantled by Henry VIII (the stone was used to fortify the castle).  The cathedral hosts some beautiful stained glass windows, one of which dates back to medieval times.  It also hosts a treasury of valuable holy objects for churches in the surrounding area.  Some of the chalices were from the 11th and 12th centuries, others more “modern” from the 16th and 17th.   It was fascinating to compare the silver workmanship from the different eras and in some cases, impossible to tell them apart!  The priory grounds are still enclosed by a stone wall and like at Lanercross some of the buildings have been turned into residences and apartments- certainly a serene place to live.

Looking into the inner bailey of the Carlisle castle from the walls. The Keep is to the left.

Day 11 & 12

I split the last 14 miles into two seven mile(ish) segments and lazily made my way over from Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway, the small village on the coast where the trail ends (or starts if you walk west to east).  The area was mainly rural so the trail continued to pass through pastures, but much of the time I was walking on narrow country lanes, both paved and unpaved. As I approached the coast large swaths of marshland spread out to the north defining where the tidal energy of the ocean changed the water level regularly.  Signs along the road provided warnings of water levels from one to three feet; luckily there was no sign of flooding as I meandered my way to Bowness!  I reached the endpoint of the trail, officially marked by a sign and my journey was over.

The marshland north of the road near the coast at the end of the walk. Luckily no flooding!

And…. I’m done. Walked the whole 84 mile length of the wall and had a wonderful time doing so!